The Eternal City on Ice
by pinkiethebandit
Summary: Jack is bored. He hitches a ride on the wind to the Eternal City to try to rustle up some trouble. Instead he finds himself showing a depressed goddess of agriculture how to have fun in the winter.


The Eternal City on Ice

Jack was bored. He itched to do something he hadn't done for a while, go somewhere he hadn't been in a couple decades, or just start some trouble. Man, it was too bad Easter was still so far off. He'd love to rain on Bunny's parade, maybe go a few rounds with the furry stickler.

What to do, what to do…an idea seized him and he couldn't keep the diabolical grin off his face. There was one place he hadn't been to for a long time, a place he knew they didn't like him very much. Laughing with maniacal purpose, Jack launched himself into the air.

* * *

It was the dead of night when Jack flew in over Rome, a fleet of heavy clouds in tow. The snow started to fall, and he swooped down into the well-lit streets, rolling on the wind and waving his staff about like a madman, laughing all the while. The few people still out quickly ran for cover. Romans (and tourists) were not fans of the cold.

Soon Jack had the whole shining city to himself. Rome was already a masterpiece, but he made her _his_ masterpiece, with streets of purest white, fountains that sparkled and statues arrayed in glittering ice no jewel could match. He shot down Via Nomentana then followed some smaller streets to the city center. The Romans (and tourists) were going to have kittens when they saw the glorious havoc he wreaked along Via dei Fori Imperiali.

He eventually made his way around to Piazza del Popolo, with its stern obelisk and vigilant statues. This place used to give him the creeps back in the day. Tonight, the lamps were bright and the snow looked lovely on the surrounding rooftops, but there was still something missing, one last touch to banish the shadow of its bloody past. He dipped the top of his staff to the ground. A brilliant frost patina emanated from it, coating the whole of the plaza. Perfect. Now this was a place people could have some fun.

"Jack Frost," came a regal voice from behind him.

A thrill ran down his spine. He turned to face the owner of the voice, a full-figured, ageless woman. "Jeez, you scared me, lady," he said. He took in the flowing, ancient green dress, the lotus staff and, most importantly, the crown of golden wheat. Oops. "Er, my lady."

"What are you doing here, Jack Frost?" Her words were heavy. Tired.

"I didn't mean to wake you, ma'am. I didn't know Rome was where you slept in the winter," he said, genuinely remorseful. Damn it all, he'd screwed up again.

She waved her free hand vaguely, the other wrapped around her staff. "I do not sleep in the winter. I ask again, Jack Frost, why have you come to the Eternal City?"

His reasons for coming here seemed paltry in the face of her sorrow. He remembered now, the stories of the old Guardians, the ones who defended a civilization, and in particular he remembered the story of Ceres, Guardian of the Harvest, and her disconsolate wandering in search of her lost daughter, Proserpina. Every winter she wandered and suffered anew, and Jack's visit to Rome, his very existence even, must come as a slap in the face to her.

Instead of answering her question, he did the only thing he could think of to try to make it up to her: He threw a snowball at her face. He was slightly concerned that it wouldn't work on a deity. If it didn't, he would have to try to pacify a very angry goddess on her own turf. That would not be fun and in fact would likely result in his butt being unceremoniously kicked into next week at best. At worst, he'd have to live out the rest of eternity as a hungry lizard or something.

Fortunately it did work. The snowball hit her between the eyes, right on target. For a second she was the picture of disbelief, as if the idea that someone would be stupid enough to throw a _snow_ball at a goddess who hated winter, hated it more than anything else on the surface of the earth, lay so far beyond the realm of possibility that it could not actually have happened. But then the disbelief melted into a wide grin, and Jack's brief moment of alarm – okay, abject terror – passed.

"You got any skates, ma'am?"

There was a flash of light and her staff morphed into skates. She stood proudly on the ice for all of two seconds. Then she was wobbling and shrieking unfamiliar words that must have been the equivalent of "you bastard!" and "screw you!" two thousand years ago. Jack picked out his name, too, and laughed out loud before catching her as she started to topple over backwards.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall. Just hold onto me, and you'll get the hang of it." He propelled her around the edge of the plaza-turned-rink to give her a taste of what he was going to teach her. By the second lap she was relaxed and a small smile played on her lips. After a few more laps, he stopped her. "Okay, I'm going to let go of you now. Try to balance. Falling is part of skating, but I'll be here to help you back up." He let go of her, eliciting more ancient curses. When she didn't immediately collapse, he said, "Good, now, take a step forward." She did but her other skate slid backward and she was once again in danger of taking an ungodly dive. She righted herself but in doing so overcompensated and went down on her divine butt.

"Jack Frost, I will smite you for this!" she cried, laughing.

Jack chuckled nervously.

It took them a few hours, but Ceres learned to balance and even skate on her own at a reasonable speed by the time the first hints of rosy-fingered dawn touched the pinnacle of the obelisk. Jack was profoundly grateful to have neither scales nor smite-marks anywhere on his body when they sat down under the obelisk for a break.

"Thank you, Jack Frost." She was still smiling, but her eyes were tinged with sadness again. In the growing light, he could see that they were gold, like the wheat of her crown.

"It was my pleasure, Your Divinity," he replied. It was true. He'd enjoyed showing her how fun winter could be, lightening her burden even for just a few hours.

"You know the story of my girl Proserpina, don't you?" He nodded. "I miss her so when she is gone, my little princess of spring," she said to her hands, "I always will, but perhaps now I will learn to look on winter as my tired heart's last gift to mortals before the start of the next growing season, rather than the noxious fruit of my pain. Perhaps I may learn to take some measure of consolation from the happy shouts of children as they play in the snow and ice."

"I hope so, ma'am. And if that doesn't work, you can always laugh at the adults trying to cope. I know I intend to."

She laughed, not unrestrained and full of wonder like before, but still, she laughed. "I would like to see it. For so long, I have walked with head bowed in the winter, unwilling to see the suffering I inflict upon my people. It is time that I saw the joy that they carve out of the hardship."

Jack stood, held out an arm. "Come with me, then, Lady."

She took the arm, rising steady on her skates. Her bearing was once again the bearing of a queen as they glided together all through the exquisite chaos of the Eternal City on ice.

* * *

**AN:** Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it!

If there's something you noticed that didn't work well, whether it be a characterization thing or a pacing thing or anything else, I would appreciate some feedback. You're welcome to just enjoy the story though :)


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